Last.fm Knows Who’s Listening

Last.fm’s US audience grew 90% over the past twelve months, according to a post in the UK based Guardian’s digital blog. According to David Goodman, president of CBS interactive music, Last.fm’s US audience has risen from 3.5 million monthly uniques 12 months ago to 8 million now.

Goodman discussed plans for continued growth in both Europe and the US, including ads for the service in the London Underground, and further integration of Last.fm’s features across all CBS properties.

CBS has access to lots of listener data by virtue of Last.fm’s scrobbling feature which tracks each user’s musical taste by recording details of the songs the user listens to, either from Internet radio stations, or the user’s computer or many portable music devices. Goodman aims to see that data become the defacto source of what people are listening to.

It’s interesting stuff, this data tracking. Goodman and CBS are wise to gather it and offer it up to their own stations and others. In April, CBS announced that Last.fm would stop on-demand song streaming and emphasize its personalized radio station streaming services as well as its scrobbling and social features that focus on the buzz around songs and artists. Which of course will keep folks buzzing about Last fm as well..